Duane Michals: The Portraitist

“Duane Michals: The Portraitist” presents the first comprehensive overview of inventive portraits by this influential photographer who, in the 1960s, broke away from established traditions of documentary and fine-art photography and is still creating original work today. Michals is widely recognized for his eye-catching portraits of actors, artists, musicians, writers, and other public figures. Striving to articulate his own distinct style and vision while distinguishing each subject’s individual personality, the artist empowers his sitters to express themselves in their own environments and through improvisation. He is perhaps best known for the sequences he assembles to convey personal visual narratives, often with handwritten messages and poems added to the photographic print surface. The exhibition spans nearly six decades, featuring more than 125 portraits collectively highlighting the artist’s expansive toolkit — sequenced images, multiple exposures, reflections, uncommon vantage points, collage, hand-painting, and other techniques.